October 15, 2006

Allstate Insurance, Earthquakes, and CRM

My wife and I received a letter in the mail Saturday, informing us that Allstate will no longer provide earthquake coverage on our home. Having lived through the 6.8 quake in 2001, it is a good idea to have earthquake coverage in the Pacific Northwest. Conversely, having lived through Hurricane Katrina, it is probably a good idea for Allstate to drop coverage of this nature.

Several years ago, I was in an accident in a rental car, one where I totaled two vehicles. Allstate cleaned up the whole mess for me in as professional and wonderful a manner as I could ever hope for. As a result, I have a soft spot in my heart for Allstate.

Still, there is something unsettling about this. I was told of this change in policy via a form letter. One might think a call from my agent would be nice. Oh well, yet another win for big business.

CRM experts, here is your chance to shine. If you were part of the management team at Allstate, how you do you handle communication of delicate news like this in a way that makes sure that I continue to sink my hard-earned dollars into endeavors that Allstate views as being highly profitable? How should Allstate have communicated this issue?

1 comment:

Great challenge!!!Although I am sure that Allstate evaluated the financial impact that would come from losing a slice of their clientelle due to this change, they may not have been able to evaluate the impact of negative word of mouth that this type of cancelation generates.All in all, most folks in the risk industry would have evaluated the living daylights out of all options and... decided that losing a few customers was a minor loss compared with the prospective losses from claims.This is one of those cases in which the numbers talked loud and clear.

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